We predicted that a big breakfast and small dinner would increase calories burned and weight lost. Instead, the results of the experiment found no differences in body weight or any biological measures of energy usage between the two meal patterns. Measures of energy usage included basal metabolic rate (how many calories your body uses at rest), physical activity, and use of a chemical form of water that enables assessment of total daily energy use. There were also no differences in daily levels of blood glucose, insulin or lipids. This is important because changes of these factors in the blood are associated with metabolic health. Our findings are consistent with short-term (one to six days) meal-timing studies, where participants live in a laboratory respiratory chamber (a small, air-tight room equipped with basic comforts) for the duration of the experiment. Together, the research suggests that the way our bodies process calories in the morning versus the evening does not influence weight loss in the way that has been reported in other studies.
A good breakfast has no role to play in weight loss, study says
